1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processor and an image processing method having a function capable of copying, transmitting, etc. of a read image while removing a user-designated color component from the read image, and also an automatic color/monochrome (black-and-white) determination function.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a technology of determining whether a read image obtained by scanning a manuscript is a color image or a monochrome (black-and-white) image like a technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-90675 has been known. In addition, it is also described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-90675 that pixels of a user-designated color of a read image are forcibly converted to gray pixels and then it is determined whether the read image is a color image or a monochrome image.
In the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-90675, when a manuscript including a handwritten character or a ruled line of a user-designated color exists in a monochrome manuscript and when the color of the handwritten character or the color of the ruled line is designated as the designated color, the following processing is performed.
First, a monochrome manuscript including a handwritten character (for example, a character written with a ballpoint pen in the manuscript) or a ruled line of the designated color is scanned to form a read image. Then, the handwritten character and ruled line of the read image are forcibly converted to gray, and it is determined that the read image is a monochrome image.
However, a technology according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-90675 is not able to remove the designated color from the read image.
Thus, the handwritten character and ruled line of the designated color have not been able to be removed from the read image.